Tucking means for knitting machines



May 5, 1925. 1,536,946 C. J. SUTPHEN TUCKING MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 13, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheed 1 INVENTOR u'lkahen,

ATTORNEY May 5, 1925. 1,536,946

c. J. SUTPHEN TUCKING MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 13, 1922 '7 She ets Sht 2 lSuTkohen ATTORNEY May '5, 1925. 1,536,946

(3. J. SUTPHEN TUCKING MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 13, 1922 '7 Sheets-Sheet 5 WITNESS:

ATTORNEY May 5, 1925.

C. J. SUTPHEN TUCKING MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES '7 sheets sht 4 Filed Dec. 13, 1922 A TTOR/VEY Patented May 5, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE. 7

CHARLES J. SUTPHEN, OF PATTERSON, NEW JERSEY.

TITCKING MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

Application filed December 13, 1922. Serial No. 606,609.

.To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES J. SUTPHEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the'county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tricking Means for Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The principal ob ect which the mechanism herein set forth is designed to subserve is to produce a unique and attractive fabric embodying the stitch known in the knitting art as the tuck or lace stitch, which is the result of the needle lnvolved taking yarn for one or more courses without looping the same through the loop already on the needle so that when it does loop yarn through such loop the'yarn of any intervening course will he hung up on the new loop; stated more fully, the principal object of said'mechanism is to produce an article, such as hosiery, which in certain regions shall be cir'cuitously composed entirely of lace stitches, in others of plain stitches, and in others in part of lace stitches and in part of plain stitches, as at the foot. In carrying out this object I have further had in mind to construct the said mechanism so that it may be applied to a circular knitting machine without any change in the existing mechanism of such machine beyond providing for rendering temporarily inactive an-i'nconsiderable part of the mechanism thereof.

ll shall first state briefly and generally the salient features of operationof that embodiment of my invention which is herein set forth by "way of example and then describe the construction and operation in dc tail: Assuming my invention to. be applied to a knitting machine of the kind set forth in the Scott Patent No. 1,152,850, for example, that cam which elevates theneedles to clear their latches preliminary to forming the stitches in continuous rotary knitting'is put out of action and two other cams for performing this service, but in a special way, pcrform'the latch-clearing operation. On every other cycle (revolution of the needle group) both of these cams are active, one on a series of needles composed of the alternate, and the other on a series com-' posed of the remaining, needles; on theremaining cycles first one cam is active and the other inactive and then vice 'versa. This produces a pattern in which courses ofplain stitches (when both cams are active) alternate with courses of stitches (when one or the other cam is active) in which the alternates are plain and the remainder tuck stitches, the pattern moreover having the tuck stitches in two adjoining courses of the latter kind staggered, so that one characteristic of the fabric is that it appears diagonally striated. The cams, which I term special cams, are made to act selectively as indicated (i. e., one on one needleseries and the other on the other) in the present instance through the medium off two series of jacks. When the development of the fabric requires that a half or other fragment of each circular course shall be composed entirely of plain stitches, as in knitting the rear-ankle portion of a hosiery article and later the instep portion, the special cams are left in action but whatever distribution as to latch-clearing these cams effeet with respect to that fragment of the needle-group which is to knit plain all such needles are made to assume the latch-clearing position before they cometo the stitchforming point in their circular path of travel, this occurring in every cycle; the means for elfecting this is a cam means which when used is brought into position to act on said fragment or part of the needle-group and, not on the remainder thereof, this being accomplished by using needles having butts of difi'erent'lengths. Plain knitting throughout each circular course, or knitting reciprocally as in the case of heels and toes, is accomplished by restoring the regular latch-clearing cam to working position, the said cam means being then inactive; the special latch-clearing cams remain in action at such times (as in fact they do at all times) for they are positioned so that the needles are acted upon by them rotatively earlier than by the regular latch-clearing cam, so that when the latter is in action it in efiect nullifies the distribution of the needles which the special cams produce.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view, on ap- I proximately the line 1-1, Fig. 2, of the upper part of a knitting machlne embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan, partly in section on line 22, Fig. 1, of what is shown in Fig. 1, with the needle-cylinder, sinkers and their accessories and latch-ring removed;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View on approximately line 33, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an inside elevation of that part of the cam-cylinder g which contains the arches m of the jack races or grooves;

Figs. 5 and v6 are sectional views on the lines 5-5 and 6-6 of Fig. 4, Fig. 6 showing only a certain inset block and its triangular piece;

Fig. 7 shows said triangular piece in plan;

Fig. 8 shows the means for actuating the special cams, which are arranged at the mentioned arches in the jack races or grooves;

Fig. 9 shows the jacks;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view on approximately the line 1010 Fig. 2;

Figs. 11 and 12 are a plan and an inside elevation of the rectifying'cam means;

Figs. 13 and 14: are side elevations thereof and, respectivel of long-butt and shortbutt needles;

Figs. 15, 15 and 15 are developments of the interior of the cam-cylinder and other parts and show the needle courses when, respectively, one series of alternate needles, then the other series, and then both clear their latches; i

Fig. 16 shows, diagrammatically, two portions of the pattern developed, one being what I term the the lace or tuck stitches are included and the other the plain portion consisting whcplly of conventional knitting stitches; an

Fig. 17 is a diagram of a stocking produced by the improved machine.

The following I'may apply my invention as herein set forth are all well known in the art (for instance,

' suitable means,

the mentioned Scott patent), to wit: The bed-plate a; the needle-cylinder 7) having latch needles a sliding in vertical. grooves therein and also having the bevel-gear (Z journal'ed in a recess d in the bed-plate; the bevel-gear e journaled in the machine frame 7 and adapted to be rotated either continuously in one direction or reciprocally by not shown; the stationary cam-cylinder 9 having a ledge g on which the needle butts may travel and recessed at the back to form the inclines g and 9 the cams k h in said recess each of which forms a stitch-cam or a latch-clearing cam, dependingon the direction of rotation of the needle cylinder; the top and bottom center cams 2' and 2" arranged between and cooperative with the cams h h in their stitching and 'and raise them from with the short ones a fancy portion in which parts of a machine to which latch-clearing functions; the web-holders or sinkers j arranged in radial grooves in the bed or dial is secured to the needle cylinder 6 and adapted to be moved radially inward and outward by the sinker cam-ring Z which is oscillatory in a horizontal'plane between adjustable limits determined by the contact of set-screws Z thereon with the intervening upright m on a part of cam-cylinder g; the latch-ring n pivoted at 0; the switch-cam p for use in putting out of acting a part of the needle-group (as the long-butt needles) as when the cylinder 6 is reciprocated; the picker mechanism cooperative with said switch-cam in the operations of widening and narrowing the partial web then being formed and of which it is necessary only to indicate the narrowing pickers q and the Widening picker 1; and the yarn-controlling mechanism including the yarn-guides 8 (each adapted to feed yarn to the needles as the latter reach a point between cams h and h) and the means to lower them to working position indicated at 2,.

The complete needle group is divided in two respects into two distinct series; that is to say, on the one hand the alternates form one series and the remaining needles the other, and on the other hand the needles on one side of the diameter of the needle group form one series and those on the other side the other. For the separation of the needles in the first respect (alternates from the remainder) jacks u and o of different lengths are used, the long ones a being alternated and said jacks respectively having their butts arranged to travel in the races or grooves a: and g disposed one below the other in the cam-cylinder 9; these grooves adhere to horizontal planes throughout the whole circuit of the cam-cylinder g (and suiiiciently low so that the jacks will not interfere with the movements, for forming the stitches, of the needles downward from the neutral plane represented by the ledge 1' of said cam-cylinder), excepting at m and 7 where they are upwardly arched (to bring the jacks to the proper level to approximately reach and, if called, to raise the corresponding needles, as will appear). For the separation of the needles in the second respect those within one seetor (a half) of the needle group have long utts c and those within the remaining sector short butts c. It will be perceived from what has already been said that the separation in the first respect has to do with the production of the part of the fabric having the laceor tuck-stitches (as at X, Fig. 17) and that the separation in the second respect has to do with the production of such circuitous portions of the fabric as in part present the lace pattern and in part the plain pattern, I shall now describe the mechares nisms by which the separation or division of the needles in these two respects, taking them in their order already given, is made effective in knitting: 1

Incidentally, it may be said that to form the lower arch a" in the'race w a triangular block 2 is set into the inside of the camcylinder, the block being truncated at the top. The cam-cylinder, including this block, has a vertical recess 2 formed in its outer face from top to bottom and nearly as deep as the material at this point is thick and in this is set a rectangular block 3 held in place by screws 4, the same leaving a space between itself and the back of the recess for the reception of two triangular special cams 5 5 each having a stem 5 projecting outwardly throu h. a slot 4* in the block and normally held depressed by a spring 6 interposed between such stem and the top of the slot. Each arch m y at its crest has the lower side of the race at this point horizontal to form a short-cut m y; when either cam 5 5' (see 5, Fig. 4) is depressed the jacks travelling in the corresponding race will follow the shortcut and fail to elevate the needles, but when it is elevated (see 5) the jacks will be shunted to the extreme crest of the arch and elevate the needles. Underlying each stem 5 is the inner arm 8 of one of two levers 9 fulcrumed one above the other in abracket 10 secured on the bed-plate a and cam-cylinder 9, said levers having outer arms 11 of different lengths. Underlying each arm 11 is a vertcially movable pin 12 guided in a hole in the bed-plate, each pin in turn resting on one 'of two levers 13 pivoted under the bed-plate to move up and down and resting on the periphery of a cam-wheel 14. This cam-wheel has two peripheral cam-ways each formed with two elevations 14 and two depressions 14", the depressions in one camway being in central coincidence with the elevations in the other and being sufiiciently shorter than the elevations so that when the wheel is rotating the levers areoperated as follows: First one lever will fall into a depression while the other remains elevated, then both will ride on elevated portions of the two cam-ways and then the other will fallinto a depression while the first lever remains elevated, then both will remain ele-- vated, and so on, the periods (eight in all) of alternating depression of one or the other lever and of elevation of both levers at once being equal, assuming the cam-wheel 14 to rotate at constant speed. The cam-wheel has peripheral teeth 15 in mesh with the pinion 16 fixed to rotate with gear e, the gear-ratio being 8 to 1 so that on successive cams, then a depression of the other cam while the first cam remains elevated and so on.

In consequence of the foregoing it will be seen that when the needles, having undergone their stitch-forming movements (down from and back to the neutral plane 9) under cam h, successively come to pass the cams 5 5, their coincidence with the plane 9 up to this pointinvolving their being below their upper extremes of movement or latch-clearing positions, one series of alternate needlesor the other or both, according as one cam 5 5 or the other or both are called from the cam-wheel 14, will be 'raised to the latch-clearing position through the medium of the jacks of one set or the other or both; in other words, in each cycle there will be either a latch-clearing movement of one of the series of needles or the Fig. .15 shows both cams in working position and consequently that both series of needles will undergo latch-clearingf Such needles as thus assume the latch-clearing position will next encounter cam z and then cam h and form regular stitches (they having taken yarn just before reaching h, as

in fact all the needles always do) whereas those (if any) which do not assume latchclearing position will enter between cams i and i and, having taken yarn, will then be depressed by cam h, at. this point undergoing a stitch-forming or down and back movement which is abortive because they have not undergone latch-clearing. In other words, referring to Fig. 16, those needles which undergo latch-clearing will subsequently at h form conventional stitches A, while those which do not undergo latchclearing, although they have taken yarn, do not form conventional stitches, the yarn they take simply remaining extended across them so as to be adapted to be hung up as mere bights B, when these needles in the next course do form stitches A. On refer ence to Fig. 16 it will be seen that on account of the described order of the move ments imparted to the special cams, since all the needles undergo latch-clearing movements" on every other cycle and on the remaining cycles the two series of needles alternate as to the latch-clearing operation,

rotations of the needle-cylinder there will'- there will be courses I of plain stitches occur an elevation of both cams 5 5', then a'depression of one cam while the other remains elevated, then an elevation of both alternating with courses H of alternated plain stitches and bights and that as to these two courses (II) the plaln stitches in one course will coincide with the bights in the other course, which in the actual fabric makes it appear diagonally striated.

The cam h is put out of action whenever the machine is producing a lace portion X (Fig. 17 of the pattern, whether such portion afiects all or only a part of the circuit of the fabric. The cams 5 5 and their actuating mechanism on the other hand continue in operation uninterruptedly during the operation of the machine whether the fabric is being knitted with the lace pattern X or with the plain pattern Y; and if the fabric requires at some portion a round and round plain pattern, the cam h, then placed in operative position, will act to effect latchclearing movements of all the needles, whatever distribution thereof has been effected by the cams 5 5.

The cam 72. for the above purpose in the present instance is withdrawable independently of the other cams it i i; it is shown withdrawn in Fig. 2. It is arranged on an arcuate plate 17 which has a front-to-rear slot 18 (Fig. 2) at its forward end receiving a screw 19 in the horizontal or basal portion of cam-cylinder g and which also has (Fig. 1) a block 20 secured to its under side and sliding in a slot 21 formed in said basal portion, 18-19 and 20-21 forming means to guide the plate rectilinearly forward and back. Following substantially the construction shown in the Scott Patent No. 1,150,547 the block may have a rearward fork 22 (Fig. 2) crossed by a pin 23 (Fig. 1) and receiving a slide bar 24 which has a cam 24 to engage the pin and thus Withdraw the plate 17, which is normally pressed forward to bring cam h into operative position by a spiral spring 25; the slide bar may be actuated from the usual pattern wheel 26* employed in knitting machines of the kind to which my invention is herein shown to beapplied, so as to be called intoaction whenever the requirements of the pattern demand.

Now as to the separation of the needles in the aforementioned second respect (i. e., so that as to a half or other section of the entire needle-group the same will all have their latches cleared while as to the remaining sector the arrangement of the needles thereof as to clearing will remain as determined by the cams 5 5, thus to knit circular courses which go to form the fabric for a part of its circuit plain and for the remainder fancy), herein one-half of the needlegroup has long butts 0 and the other half short butts 0". (The latches of all the needles are of the same length.) At a point between the cams 5 5 and the cam-group h h i a" there are placed a switch or switchcam 26 and a deflector or deflecting cam 27. The former is knife-like in form and is set with its edge projecting oppositely to the ordinary direction of movement of the needle-group for continuous or round and round knitting and so that its acting face 26 is inclined from said edge upwardly.

The latter may also have a knife-like form and is set with its edgeprojecting'in the same direction as the needle-group ordinarily moves in round and round knitting and with its acting surface 27 inclined from said edge upwardly. The deflector has its said edge preferably somewhat below that of the switch, and it extends toward the needle-group short of the switch a distance equal to the difference in length of the butts 0 and 0". The two are carried by a slide 28 arranged in a fixed bracket 29 to move radially toward or from the needle-group. The slide is normally forced outwardly by a spring 30, and it is adapted to be moved by a lever 31 against which the cam surface 32' of a slide-bar .32 wipes when said slidebar is called from the pattern-wheel 26. (Lever 31 is fulcrumed 1n a bracket 33 which may have an arm 33 overhanging the outer end of the lever and preventing its tendency to rise during the upward or working thrusts of the slide-bar.) The ledge g has a depression 34 opposite the switch and deflector.

The cam h of course stands withdrawn when the above-described cam means comprising the switch and deflector is operative on the needles, or in its inward position, since as stated it is never in the operative position when any portion of the circuit of the fabric is to be knitted fancy. The cams 5 5 proceed (as always) to distribute all the needles on each cycle according to the requirement then imposed by the pattern wheel 14, i. e., so that one or the other series of alternate needles, or both, will undergo latch clearing. But as to the short-butt needles, whatever operation therein is offeeted at 5 5, they all are made to undergo latch-clearing movement before they reach the yarn-feeding point, to wit, as they pass the switch 26, which shifts them all upward to latch-clearing position; thus when they take yarn they will all form plain stitches course after course so as to produce the plain portion Y of the fabric. The sectorseries of long-butt needles each time they sweep around are shunted by the deflector 27 out of position to be acted upon by the switch, being returned to the neutral plane of ledge g as soon as they pass the switch by the inclined far side 3-1 of the depression 34; thus, as to the long-butt needles, whatever distribution is effected at 5 5 is prevented by the deflector from being prevented by the deflector from being disturbed by the switcln-every long-butt needle undergoing the shunting (those that have cleared as well as those that have not) in order to protect those that have not cleared from being caused by the switch to do so.

The result on the whole will be on each course to knit plain for a part thereof and fancy for the remainder, developing the portions Y and X side by side.

When the long-butt needles are shunted downwardly as last explained it will be apparent that as to those that have cleared their latches the yarn loops thereon would act, as the needles descend in being shunted, to close their latches so that they wouldfail to take yarn at the yarn-feeding point. The latch-ring a may for this purpose have a portion-n thereof reaching downward and forming a detent to prevent upward or ,closing movement of the latches of these needles at this time (Figs. 13 and 15, Fig. 13 showing three needles, one of which has full descended so. that the loop thereon ten s to close its latch, the loop itself being omitted);

Assume, for example, that it is a stocking that is to be produced, Fig. 17. Where the courses are to beknitted round and round plain, as atthe top, the cam h is in working position and whatever distribution of the needles is edected by the cams 5 5" this cam causes them all to clear their latches and therefore all to form stitches when they so that it ceases to nullify the work done by the cams 5 5, cam means 2627 being also in withdrawn position. Where the courses are to be knitted in part plain and in part fancy, as around the ankle, cam h is withdrawn and cam means 2627 is in working position. Where as in forming the heel and toe the courses are back and forth, the needle group being oscillated and only plain pattern being then wanted, the cam h is in work ing position (cam means 26-27 being then of course withdrawn) and the machine operates the same as that of the first-mentioned Scott patent, the latch-clearing action of the cam h rectifying the effect of the cam means 5 5 on the counter-clockwise strokes the same as in round and round plain knitting.

It is not indispensable that in intervals between the times when one or the other of the devices '5 5 assumes actuatin osition both should assume that position; but since otherwise there would occur no intervening courses of plain stitches between lace forming courses, and since such courses of plain stitches result in the striations being sharply defined in the fabric, I prefer to shift both devices to actuating position between each two cycles when they individually assume that position.

It is not indispensable that the two series of knitting instruments, each composed of alternates, should not leave one or more instruments intervening between an instrument of one series and that of the other. J In Figs. 15, 15 and 15 one of the two series of needles (they are shown here only 1 laterally open parallel grooves each formed with an arch, the apex part of that portion of the cylinder which is contained within each arch being removed, latch-clearing cams substantially conforming in shape to the parts thus removed and respectively movable up into and down out of the places from which said parts are removed, two series of knitting instruments having latches and also'having butts respectively engaged in said grooves and being arranged in a circular group and alternating with each other, said cylinder having cam means to cause downward stitch-forming movements of said instruments and said cylinder and group of instruments being revoluble one relatively to the other around the axis of the cylinders and means to move one of the latch-clearing came up and the other down and then vice versa during rotation as between the cylinder and group of instruments'.

2. In combination, a cam cylinder having a needle race and below the same laterally open parallel grooves each formed with an arch, the apex part of that portion of the cylinder which is contained within each arch being removed, a series of latch-needles having butts arranged to travel along the needle race, means to engage said butts and cause complete knitting movements of the needles including a latch-clearing cam adapted to be operatively engaged by butmovable out of position to engage the butts, jacks arranged below and adapted to elevate the respective needles, the alternate jacks having their butts arranged in one of said grooves and the remaining jacks having their butts arranged in the other groove, other'latch-clearing cams substantially conforming in shape to the said removed apex parts and respectively movable up into and down out of the places from which said parts are removed, said cylinder and the group of needles and jacks being revoluble one relatively to the other around the axis of the cylinder, and means to move one of the latter latch-clearing cams up and the other down and then vice versa during rotation as between the cylinder and group of instruments.

3. A knitting machine of the circular type including a circular group of knitting instruments having latches, means to impart latch-clearing movements to alternates in two sectors of the group independently of the others and in one direction from a given plane and then movements thereof toward said plane and also stitch-forming movements to substantially all said instruments in theother direction from said plane and then movements thereof toward said plane, said group and means being revoluble one relatively to the other to cause said movements, means to feed yarn to all the knitting instruments on each revolution, a switch, positioned to act on each revolution after said latch-clearing movements have been effected and before yarn is fed to the instruments, vto impart to said other instruments in one sector latch-clearing movements in the first direction from said plane, means upon said latch-clearing movements of said other instruments being effected by the switch to effect movements of said other instruments toward said plane, means to shift the instruments in the other sector in the opposite direction from said plane so as tov clear the switch, and means, during such shifting, to hold against closing the latches of those instruments in said other sector which have cleared their latches.-

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CHARLES J. SUTPHEN. 

